&#34;green&#34; temperature- controlled mailer

ABSTRACT

A mailer has an outer, longitudinally extending, biodegradable film with lateral edges folded on itself to form a pocket having an opening and sealable by a flap. An assembly is composed of an inner, longitudinally extending, biodegradable film having lateral edges and a longitudinal extending pad composed of textile cuttings and microbial and super-absorbent powders. The inner film extends longitudinally around the pad and is attached to the pad. The assembly is positioned in the pocket with the inner film being sealed to the outer film adjacent the opening to the pocket trapping the pad between the outer and inner films. Sealing tape is mounted on the inner film adjacent to the pocket to seal the pocket closed. The lateral edges of both the outer and inner films, which extend laterally beyond the pad, are heat sealed together.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a “green”, temperature-controlled mailer that is fully (100%) biodegradable.

2. Prior Art

The current technology provides paper mailers, lined with plastic bubble-wrap, or more expensive foam, or foam-lined, boxes. These products are used primarily for shipping sensitive or fragile items, but suffer from the fact that they have extremely limited cushioning, no absorption properties, no antimicrobial properties and practically no temperature-control value.

Foam, or foam-lined, boxes are also used for shipping temperature-sensitive products, such as, medical samples, pharmaceuticals, chocolates, etc. These current products, in addition to being dramatically more expensive to purchase, warehouse, and ship (in-bound and outbound freight), they are also more labor intensive, less user-and-environmentally friendly, and provide very limited protection during transit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The principal object of the invention is to provide a 100% biodegradable temperature-controlled mailer.

The novel mailer of the present invention may be used as a stand-alone shipper, or it may be used as an internal package that maintains a properly cold temperature in a larger, non-refrigerated box. Savings are realized from the utilization of the novel mailer of the present invention in terms of a) initial cost, as opposed to a foam-lined box; b) set-up/fulfillment labor expenses; c) storage space, with attendant costs and; d) in-bound and out-bound freight charges.

The foregoing is accomplished by a mailer that is composed of materials that are 100% biodegradable. The outer surface of the novel mailer consists of a biodegradable film or paper that is also waterproof. The inner surface of the novel mailer is a biodegradable film or paper (substrate) that is permeable. Sandwiched between the inner biodegradable film or paper (substrate), and sealed on all sides, is a novel, proprietary, biodegradable, pad made from re-cycled, purified, ground-up material, to which super absorbent powders (for the absorption of spills), and antimicrobial powders (for the prevention of contamination in case of rupture for such products as blood or vaccines, etc.) have been added during manufacture. The antimicrobials are programmed to expire, after a pre-selected desired length of time, to allow for the eventual, natural, degradation/biodegradability of the novel mailer. The outer surface of the novel pad is encompassed with a water-proof, biodegradable film or paper, sealed on two (or three) sides and is double-sealed, with pressure-sensitive, biodegradable tape, at the top, for safety and to prevent tampering. Phase-change materials (refrigerants/gel packs) used in the novel mailer are also biodegradable, making the entire shipping system safer, dramatically more cost-effective, user-friendly, environmentally-friendly, and socially-responsible.

The novel pad serves six vital purposes: 1) Insulation; 2) padding/cushioning; 3) absorption; 4) antimicrobial action; 5) biodegradability and; 6) cost efficiency (in terms of initial cost, as opposed to a foam-lined box, set-up/fulfillment labor expenses, storage space, with attendant charges, and in-bound and out-bound freight charges).

The insulative properties of the novel mailer are roughly equivalent to one-half inch of foam, thus, allowing for the savings of second-day shipping as opposed to the cost of overnight priority freight/delivery charges as is required with current mailer technology.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be come apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when taken in conjunction with the appended drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the novel mailer in front view lying flat;

FIG. 2 shows the novel mailer in rear view lying flat;

FIG. 3 shows the novel mailer in a longitudinal sectional view prior to folding and heat sealing;

FIG. 4 shows an upper part of the novel mailer shown in FIG. 3 (the left side as shown), prior to folding and heat sealing, partly broken away to reveal the component parts;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings, the novel mailer is shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. The mailer is composed of materials that are 100% biodegradable. The outer surface of the novel mailer 10 consists of a non-petroleum based, biodegradable film or paper 12 that is also waterproof. Film 12 extends laterally so its lateral edges or margins 20 can be heat sealed together. At the bottom of the mailer the film 12 is folded at 22. At the top of the mailer, the front top edge 28 terminates at the mailer opening 24, and the back continues upwardly to form flap 26 to enable the mailer 10 to be sealed by folding the flap 26 over the front of the mailer closing off the opening 24. The flap 26 has a lateral stripe of adhesive 30 covered with a removable protecting paper 32.

The inner surface of the novel mailer 10 is a non-petroleum based, biodegradable film or paper (substrate) 14 that is permeable. Sandwiched between the inner biodegradable film or paper (substrate) 14 and the outer film 12, and sealed on all sides, is a novel, proprietary, biodegradable, pad 16 made from re-cycled, purified, ground-up material, to which super absorbent powders (for the absorption of spills), and antimicrobial powders (for the prevention of contamination in case of rupture for such products as blood or vaccines, etc.) have been added during manufacture. The antimicrobials are programmed to expire, after a pre-selected desired length of time, to allow for the eventual, natural, degradation/biodegradability of the novel mailer. The outer surface of the novel pad 16 is encompassed within the water-proof, biodegradable film or paper 12, sealed on two (or three) sides with film 14, which extends laterally coextensive with film 12. The film 14 is double-sealed, with pressure-sensitive, biodegradable tape 18 (covered with a protective strip 34, at the top, for safety and to prevent tampering). Film 14 does not surround the pad 16 completely but the end portions 40 extend around the pad 16 sufficiently to enable the end portions 40 to be sealed with the film 12, as indicated at 44.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the film 14 is stitched together with the pad 16 in the following manner. A row of smaller stitches 50 extend from top to bottom of the mailer 10 along each side thereof juxtaposed adjacent to the lateral edges 52 of pad 16. spaced slightly inwardly of stitches 50, is a second row of larger stitches 56 that encompass the pad 16 and the film 14 on the inside of the pad 16 and include the portions 42 on the outside of the pad 16. The second rows of stitches only extend longitudinally from the top of the mailer downwardly and terminate with the portions 42. Apart from the stitching and heat sealing of the film 14 to film 12, pad 16 is not attached to film 12. The laid-out mailer shown in FIG. 3 is folded along the dotted line 60 to achieve the finished mailer in the manner noted above.

The pad 16, as duly noted, is made from re-cycled, purified, ground-up material, to which super absorbent powders (for the absorption of spills), and antimicrobial powders (for the prevention of contamination in case of rupture for such products as blood or vaccines, etc.) have been added during manufacture. The antimicrobials are programmed to expire, after a pre-selected desired length of time, to allow for the eventual, natural, degradation/biodegradability of the novel mailer.

As evident from the above description, the pad 16 is covered by the film 14 on the inside with film 14 extending laterally beyond the pad 16 to lie coextensive with the marginal edges of the film 12 so all marginal edges can be heat sealed together. Film 14 extends around the longitudinal extremities of the pad 16 so that the end portions 40 of the film 14 lie between the pad 16 and the outer film 12 when the pad 16 is located in the mailer 10. These portions 40 enable the film 14 to be heat sealed together with the film 12 around the mailer opening 24 thereby entrapping the pad 16. The portion of the opening 24 that lies with the flap 26 has the pressure-sensitive, biodegradable tape 18 (covered with a protective strip 34) in order to seal the top edges of the inner film 14 together before the flap 26 is sealed to the front of the mailer 10.

Phase-change materials (refrigerants/gel packs) used in the novel mailer are also biodegradable, making the entire shipping system cost-effective, environmentally-friendly, and socially-responsible.

The novel pad serves six vital purposes: 1) Insulation; 2) padding/cushioning; 3) absorption; 4) antimicrobial action; 5) biodegradability and; 6) cost efficiency (in terms of initial cost, as opposed to a foam-lined box, set-up/fulfillment labor expenses, storage space, with attendant charges, and in-bound and out-bound freight charges).

The insulation properties of the novel mailer are roughly equivalent to one-half inch of foam, thus, allowing for the savings of second-day shipping as opposed to the cost of overnight priority freight/delivery charges as is required with current mailer technology.

A specific example of a mailer according to the present invention is one that is 14.5 inches long, 10 inches wide and has a 4.5 inch flap. The top opening is about 8.5 inches across and can be opened to about 5 inches thereby facilitating loading.

Examples of the materials used for the novel mailer are as follows. Tri-extruded degradable sheeting can be used as a film. The film is manufactured as 37″ lay flat at 0.004 inches. Grass green, opaque tri-extruded degradable sheeting can be used for film 14. The sheeting is manufactured with a degradable additive in all layers. The film manufactured is 12″ lay flat at 0.0015 inches. For the film 12, a white opaque outside/silver-color inside tri-extruded degradable sheeting can be used. The sheeting is manufactured with a degradable additive in all layers. The film is manufactured as 12″ lay flat at 0.004 inches. The films are obtainable commercially from a variety of suppliers.

An example of the sealing tape 18 is BP-1052 SIS block co-polymer rubber, obtainable from DarTape Technologies Corporation. Biodegradable materials are commercially available from ECM Biofilms, Inc., Painesville, Ohio. Incorporation of at least 1% of the ECM Masterbatch pellets will assure biodegradation. Antimicrobial materials useable are Lurol AM-7 obtainable from Goulston Technologies, Inc. of Monroe, N.C. The pad 16 was made using new textile clippings mixed with commercially available antimicrobial and super-absorbent powders (such as carboxymethylcellulose) and then processed through a web forming operation to produce a pad or batten about 15 mm or 0.6 inches thick. Film 12 can be from about 2 mils thick to about 6 mils thick, and preferably about 4 mils thick. Film 14 can be from about 0.5 mils thick to about 5 mils thick, and preferably about 3 mils thick. Pad 16 can be from about 5 mm thick to about 25 mm thick and preferably about 15 mm thick.

Although the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, changes can be made which do not depart from the inventive concept. Such changes are deemed to fall within the purview of the appended claims. 

1. A mailer comprising an outer, longitudinally extending, biodegradable film having lateral edges folded on itself to form a pocket having an opening and sealable by a flap, and an assembly composed of an inner, longitudinally extending, biodegradable film having lateral edges and a longitudinal extending pad composed of textile cuttings and microbial and super-absorbent powders, with said inner film extending longitudinally around the pad and being attached to the pad, said assemble being positioned in said pocket with said inner film being sealed to the outer film adjacent the opening to the pocket trapping the pad between the outer and inner films, a sealing tape mounted on the inner film adjacent to the pocket to seal the pocket closed, the lateral edges of both the outer and inner films extending laterally beyond the pad and being heat sealed together.
 2. A mailer according to claim 1 wherein the inner film is stitched to the pad adjacent to the heat sealed lateral edges of both the outer and inner films.
 3. A mailer according to claim 1 wherein the pad is unattached to the outer film.
 4. A mailer according to claim 1 wherein the pad is from about 5 mm thick to about 25 mm thick.
 5. A mailer according to claim 4 wherein the pad is about 15 mm thick.
 6. A mailer according to claim 1 wherein the outer film is from about 2 mils thick to about 6 mils thick.
 7. A mailer according to claim 6 wherein the outer film is about 4 mils thick.
 8. A mailer according to claim 1 wherein the inner film is from about 0.5 mils thick to about 5 mils thick.
 9. A mailer according to claim 8 wherein the inner film is about 3 mils thick. 